CLASS NOTES: The Definition of Religion (Chinese Thought: Ancient Wisdom Meets Modern Science)

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Notes on video lecture:

The Definition of Religion

Chinese Thought: Ancient Wisdom Meets Modern Science

Edward Slingerland, University of British Columbia

Notes taken by Edward Tanguay on October 21, 2014 (go to class or lectures)

Choose from these words to fill the blanks below:

normative, priests, atheists, Enlightenment, ontological, Catholic, agree, Confucianism, definition, Greek, clarity, cultural, thinking, striving, philosophy, philosophes, practices, gods, theistic, good, empirically, Chinese, physical, importantly, harmony, Taylor, soteriological, framework, ancient, desirable, Theravada, strategy, secularism, theological

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what does it mean to study thought?

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it is easier to study thought than practice, especially in cultures

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thought travels better

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it's easier to learn from thought rather than particular of other cultures

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studying ancient thought

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we don't know that much about what people were actually doing in ancient China

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we have texts, so we know what people were , but not what they were doing

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historians see the texts from this culture and era as both and religion

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they can be seen as both

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the distinction between philosophy and religion is itself a product of a view

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the religion/philosophy distinction emerges in Northern Europe during a particular period in the

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it's a result of a particular problem that the French had

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they were trying to formulate an ethic that was free of the Church

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a rational ethic that wasn't

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one that wasn't based upon Christianity

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so they called themselves philosophers to distinguish themselves from theologians and

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before the Enlightenment

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there was little distinction between philosophy and religion

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the thinkers, the Medieval thinkers and certainly the thinkers in China

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were simultaneously philosophers and religious thinkers

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that in ancient China, anything that would be considered philosophy is also religious thought

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one of the odd things about religious studies is we don't on what we study

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there's no universally agreed upon of religion

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there are opposing definitions of religion but there is not one definition that everyone agrees upon

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one definition that is the most useful is the one loosely modeled on that of Charles

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a religion is a coherent :

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1. of claims referring to a world beyond the world which cannot be directly experienced and which by its nature is not verifiable but requires faith for it to be meaningful

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2. of normative rules and advice on what is good and morally including how to best live your life and be a good person

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3. which advocates a strategy, which means a specific process having to do with salvation, and being saved within the terms of the framework

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every religion thinks we are not in with the described framework

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postulates some for moving from a state where we are not in harmony with this framework to one where we are in harmony with it

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all religions give you something to do that is related to accomplishing a synthesis in regard to the soteriological framework

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the power of Taylor's definition religion is that the ontological claims don't have to be

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this allows us to capture frameworks which operatively fall under the definition of religion but fall out of a definition

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e.g. captures

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certain forms of which are not religions in a theistic sense

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early Buddism

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modes of thought that purport to be not religious but if you look at them more closely, that they have many of the same characteristics of religion

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Marxism

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Libertariansim

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global stories about how to live your life and fit into a larger framework, and what we should be doing and for

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the myth of

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"although there are still religious people running around, humans for the most part have managed to reach a state of metaphysical based on scientific evidence and rationality"

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this is one of the most pernicious myths about ourselves that could be perpetrated

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even are at some level religious in the sense of committing to some sort of picture of how the universe is, how it should be, and suggesting some kind of structure in order to move from one to the other

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this is a basic feature of human cognition and psychology and you can't think your way out of it

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what it means to live a life is going to be intimately tied up with metaphysical commitments

Spelling Corrections:

refering ⇒ referring

desireable ⇒ desirable

commiting ⇒ committing

Ideas and Concepts:

Putting ancient Chinese philosophy/religion in modern context, via tonight's Ancient Chinese Thought course: "Our modern myth of secularism teaches that although there are still some religious people running around, humans for the most part have managed to reach a state of metaphysical clarity based on scientific evidence and rationality. This is one of the most pernicious myths about ourselves that could be perpetrated. Even atheists are religious in the sense of committing to some sort of ontological framework of how the universe is, how it should be, and suggesting normative rules and guidance for themselves and others in order to move the world from one state to the other, and in so doing giving meaning to our lives. The meaning you attach to your life is ultimately tied up with your metaphysical commitments and comes under the definition of religion. This is a basic feature of human cognition and psychology and you can't think your way out of it."

On the indivisibility between philosophy and religion in Ancient China, via tonight's Ancient Chinese Thought course: "We don't know that much about what people were actually doing in Ancient China. We do, however, have many of their texts, so we know what people were thinking, but when historians analyze texts from this culture and era, some describe this writing as philosophy and others describe it as religion. It is both. In fact, the distinction between philosophy and religion is itself a product of a particular cultural view, the religion/philosophy distinction emerging in Northern Europe during the Enlightenment, a result of a particular problem that the French philosophes had. They were trying to formulate an ethic that was free of the Catholic Church, a rational ethic that wasn't theological, that wasn't based upon Christianity, so they called themselves philosophers to distinguish themselves from theologians and priests. However, before the Enlightenment, there was little distinction between philosophy and religion. The Greek thinkers, the Medieval thinkers and certainly the thinkers in Ancient China did not see it as important or necessary to make a distinction between what is philosophical thinking and what is religious thinking, and so can they can be read simultaneously as philosophers and religious thinkers, and especially as we study the thinking that was being done in Ancient China, anything that one would consider philosophy is also religious thought."